Unionized employees of the 60-year-old alternative weekly The Village Voice staged a walkout Monday seeking better pay and benefits — including the most essential benefit of all, behind maybe health care: better coffee.

As of this writing, The Village Voice the employees represented by UAW Local 2110 had not come to a new contract agreement with The Voice following Monday’s very public one-hour walkout, during which staffers took to the streets in bright orange shirts.

Why the standoff? Here’s a bit from the Village Voice Bargaining Unit press release:

GREAT QUESTION. Every three years, our union, UAW Local 2110, and management come together to negotiate a new contract.

Our demands this time around are very, very simple: better pay, better working conditions, particularly for our overburdened sales staff, and to keep our healthcare coverage.

And here’s the real rub:

We also want better coffee. Our coffee is shit.

The Wrap yesterday obtained the first public comment from the Voice management yesterday, which to specialty coffee people looks like a truly misguided joke:

“The Village Voice values our employees, and we’re confident that we’ll achieve a mutually beneficial resolution — the hardest part may be getting this many New Yorkers to agree on what qualifies as a good cup of coffee.”

Don’t they know that coffee is serious sticking point?

Nick Brown
Nick Brown is the editor of Daily Coffee News by Roast Magazine. Feedback and story ideas are welcome at publisher@dailycoffeenews.com.